Hardwood Timber Lands 



The Peculiarities, the Characteristics, and the 

Possibilities of Hardwood Timber Land Heretofore 

Overlooked as Suitable for Agriculture 



BY 
D. A. WALLACE 




llaidwooii LiiiiLl Frodue;ts 



PUBLISHED BY 

WEBB PlBLISniNG CO 

ST. PAUL, Minn. 
1906. 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDies Received 

APR 27 1906 

/. Copyright Entry 
cjAss (JS /Xcjjo. 
COPY B. 



COPYRIGHT 1906 

BV 

WEBB PUBLISHING CO. 



PREFACE. 



The time is near at hand when all good agricultural lands, 
110 matter where located, will be occupied. "Cut-over lands," are 
peculiar in that the ordinary land seeker has no definite ideas of 
the soil, timber, and agricultural possibilities of the lands thus 
designated. Believing that information concerning this class of 
land would be gladly received by thousands of farmers or would- 
be farmers, about to change their location, there seems to be a 
field for a booklet of this nature. It has not been the idea to make 
it a text book, or a book of complete instruction for the northern 
farmer. For this information the settler can go to the experiment 
stations, located in the cut-over land districts. These stations are 
working out the farm problems peculiar to this section of country, 
and are aiding the farmer in all phases of his w^ork. But it has 
been the purpose to convey to the reader a general idea of the 
peculiarities, the characteristics, and the possibilities of a class 
of land hitherto overlooked as an agricultural proposition. 

Acknowledgments for photographs and information are grate- 
fully rendered to the following individuals and companies : Prof. 
W. A. Henry, Dean of the College of Agriculture of the Univer- 
sity of Wisconsin and editor of Northern Wisconsin, A Hand Book 
for the Homeseeker, Supt. A. J. McGuire, Northeast Experiment 
Station, Grand Rapids, Minn., M. S. Rutherford, Princeton, Minn., 
I. H. Claggett, Pine City, Minn., M. E. Rutherford & Co. Mora, 
Minn., Farmers' Land & Cattle Co., St. Paul, Minn., and the Du- 
luth and Iron Range Railroad. 



THE LAND SITUATION. 



Scarcity of cheap lands— No more free lands 
—Some good farm lands previously over- 
looKed— Cut-over lands -Compari- 
son of timber and prairie land- 
Northern soil. 

During the last five years there has been a wonderful migra- 
tion into the unoccupied sections of the United States and Canada 
in search for good farm lands. The demand for land has been 
unprecedented, and it has led all classes of people to invest their 
savings in fertile acres before the time comes when all available 
farm lands in the United States will be occupied. In contrast 
to years ago, when a splendid farm could be obtained by home- 
steading, or purchasing at a low price, in Iowa, Minnesota, Da- 
kota, Nebraska and Kansas, nowadays the land for the farm home 
must be purchased. Fifteen 3'ears ago, or even less, the most 
desirable farm lands in Northwestern Iowa and adjacent com- 
munities, as well as in Nebraska, Kansas and Southern Minnesota, 
could be bought at a price almost as low as is today asked for the 
least desirable of farm land. There were many instances in Iowa, 
twelve or fifteen years ago, where splendid farms could be pur- 
chased at from $10 to $20 an acre. The same lands today are 
worth from $60 to $100. The same phenomenal rise in the value 
of farm lands has occurred in all parts of the United States, due to 
immigration, increasing home population, and the occupying of 
free land, as well as the general hunger for land that possesses 
the people in times of prosperity. The past five years have seen 
a wonderful emigration from the central states in the direction 
of Northern Minnesota, the Dakotas and Canada. There has like- 
wise been a migration to the western states of Kansas, Nebraska, 
and even out to the coast states of Washington, Colorado, Oregon 
and Montana. The southern cheap lands in Oklahoma and Texas 



Hard- wood Timber Lands. 



have also attracted many honieseekers. The situation has now 
come to the point where cheap lands all over the United States 
have nearly passed the speculation point, and are so dear, in many 
instances, at the prices asked, that they can be no longer looked 
upon as cheap lands. 

There is a large section of country, however, which has hard- 
ly received its due share of attention ; a country which has not 




Typical "Slashing" Ready for Fanniug. 

been appreciated at its full worth, and which has been put in a 
prejudiced light before the land seekers. We refer to those sec- 
tions of Northeastern Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, and the 
Upper Peninsula of Michigan which have been termed "Cut- 
Over Lands." 

This section of country was originally a forest region, rang- 
ing all the way from solid hardwood land, and hardwood lands 
with mixed prairies, to dense forests. The pine has been largely 
cut off or burned, and the lumberman has moved further north 
and west, and the lands for some time have been ready for the 
land seeker. A few years ago this land was considered practical- 
ly worthless for agricultural purposes, the timber being considered 



The Land Situation. 



its chief asset at that time. But the pioneer farmers who settled 
along the lumber camps found that the land was so wonderfully 
productive of grains and grasses, and was so well suited to the 
various forms of the live-stock industry, that the question of its 
agricultural future soon came to be an assured matter and merely 
a question of time. The sections of this country which have been 
developed — and there are many wonderfully prosperous countries, 
towns and communities — indicate that in certain respects this 
country has no superior or even equal. 

Soil. The soil of the typical cut-over country is of a very pe- 
culiar nature, and possesses certain characteristics which other 
soils do not possess. It is essentially a glacial drift, deposited 
hundreds of years ago by the action of glaciers. It is composed 
of extremely fine particles of mineral matter, and is almost like 
powder in its texture. There is but little distinction beween soil 
and subsoil, it being all of the same character for many feet down. 
It ranges from a more or less sandy soil to the heaviest clay, with 
intermediate admixtures according to the way in which the sand 
or clay predominate. There is sandy loam, sandy clay loam soil, 
with a very slight admixture of sand, and the heavy clay soils. 
The clay lands are divided into the white and the red clay, the 
latter being impregnated with iron, and being distributed usual- 
ly in the vicinity of the Great Lakes. All of these clays seem to 
be equally useful from the farmer's standpoint, and to be wonder- 
fully productive of grasses, root crops, and small grains. The red 
clay is perhaps a trifle colder and a little harder to get into a cul- 
tivated state, but a splendid producer of grass. The sand in the 
North is not as great an objection as would be supposed, the cli- 
matic conditions being fortunately so arranged that the sand 
merely acts as a soil warmer and as a loosener of the heavy clays. 
The soil which has enough sand in it to make it open, friable and 
warm, and which at the same time has enough clay in it to give it 
body and make it compact, is an ideal soil, especially in the North. 
The largest share of the cut-over country is blessed with just this 
kind of soil. 



Hard-wood Timber Lands. 



We have no desire to speak disparagingly of any section of the 
United States as to the lands open to the homeseeker. The place 
he will locate is entirely a matter for the landseeker to decide. He 
should, however, remember certain facts which go to make up a 
desirable country, and consider well not only what the country is 
good for at the present time and under present weather and sea- 
son conditions, but should consider well the future and permanent 
system of agriculture which that country will have to adopt. For 




Typical Tamarack Swamp. Volunteer Blue Joint Grass in Foreground. 

instance, if a man goes to Canada or the Dakotas, he should know 
not only that he is going to raise wheat for a few years, but he 
should also consider what he is going to do when the inevitable 
time comes Avhen he cannot raise wheat. He should consider the 
past history of the country he is going into, and judge by that as 
well as the present. The last four years have been very unusual 
years from the standpoint of rainfalls, and are a poor criterion by 
which to judge any country, whether it be the Dakotas, Canada or 
the central states. Lands in the corn belt which have hitherto been 



The Land Situation. 



extremely productive have been drowned out and rendered almost 
worthless during the last four years. On the other hand, semi- 
arid lands that have never been wet enough to grow any consider- 
able crop have surprised even the best friends of the country by 
their unusual crops. In comparing the prairie country with the 
cut-over country, there are also other considerations aside from 
moisture. The Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan farmer has 
unfailing fuel, the cheapest of lumber, and work all the year 
around at remunerative wages. Considering the past of the cut- 
over country, we find that there have never been extremes of hum- 
idity or drouth, this fact being due, no doubt, to the influence of 
climatic conditions which is exerted by the proximity of the Great 
Lakes. The soil in that country is especially adapted to the drain- 
ing off of the surplus water, and, being very fine in texture, is also 
especially retentive of moisture in dry years, so that we may rea- 
sonably expect average conditions year after year. The question 
as to the value of cut-over lands depends on the ease of clearing, the 
crops that can be grown, nearness to market, and the systems of 
farming, all of which subjects will be discussed later in this booklet. 




Cut-over Timber Land. 



The Pine Has Been Removed and Hardwood 
Timber Left. 



SELECTING LAND. 

Selection important-Indication of good tim- 
ber land— Hard- w^ood land -Sw^amp 
land— Pine land- -Indications of 
Kinds of grasses. 

After the question of state and locality has heen settled the 
remaining considerations are the soil and the ease of clearing-. 
Too much stress cannot be laid upon the proper selection of land 
for the future farm. Aside from the consideration of the soil and 
its richness, the value of the land depends on the ease of clear- 
ing. Land that is burdened only by a small amount of brush and 
no windfalls or pine stumps is almost equal in value to the best of 
prairie soil. Selecting cut-over land is a dififesent matter from 
selecting prairie land, and the prairie farmer will probably be 
somewhat disappointed on first inspection. It needs full acquain- 
tance with actual conditions to realize the full measure of the mani- 
fest advantages. Cut-over land can be very accurately judged by 
the growth of grass and timber which it is producing, or which has 
been produced and later removed by the lumberman's axe or by 
fire. A mixed growth of hardwood timber, such as maple, ash, 
basswood, ironwood, and oak, usually indicates a very excellent 
heavy clay soil with slight admixture of sand. A good growth 
of hardwood is very desirable, both from the standpoint of good 
land and because when made into cord wood it furnishes profitable 
employment, and, if at all abundant, will go along way toward pay- 
ing for the land and cost of clearing. Any of the large northern 
cities, such as St. Paul and Minneapolis, furnish a ready market 
for cord wood. The price will range from $3.00 to $6.00 a cord 
on board the cars. The most valuable wood is hard maple or birch, 
after which come ironwood, oak, and ash in the order named. 

Next to the solid hardwood growth lands come the lands with 
mixed hardwood and interspersing white pine, although in many 



Selecting Land. 



cases this kind of growth will indicate just as good land as the 
first mentioned. Of swamp lands there are three kinds, — the nat- 
ural meadow, the swamp containing such timber as tamarack, 
spruce and cedar, and the swamp known as "Muskeg." The nat- 
ural meadow is always valuable for its hay, the timbered swamp 
can readily be turned into cash in the form of fence posts, ties and 
telegraph poles, and after being cleared and drained makes ex- 
cellent meadow. 

Mixed hardwood land with a little swamp land makes a good 
selection for the farm. The hardwood furnishes fuel, and the 
swamp cedar and tamarack, when cut green, make the best of 
fence posts. 

A heavy growth of Norway or Jack pine usually indicates a 




Typical Open Land, Practically Ready for tlie Plow. 

rather sandy land. A sandy soil is not necessarily a poor soil, as 
is generally supposed. With clover and a good number of live 
stock, it often makes the best farming land, especially for the 
growing of potatoes, roots, and truck gardening. Sandy soil will 
not stand the same abuse as clay soil, but under a good system of 
farming a soil which is not all sand has many advantages. Hazel 
brush growth indicates good, rich land. Mixed hardwood brush 
comes next. Willow and alder brush denote wet spots. As for 



8 



Hard-wood Timber Lands. 



indications as shown by grass, cat-tails and flags indicate standing 
water, blue stem indicates occasional wet spots, and red top fairly 
dry land. When properly drained, tame grass will supplant all 
these wild grasses. It must not be understood that these are in- 
fallible rules, but for the landseeker who is unacquainted with the 
conditions they can be taken as fairly accurate guides where the 
land is not sufiiciently bare to show for itself. 

The buyer may classify the different kinds of land into fairly 
distinct classes. There are the timber lands proper, which present 
about the same appearance as ordinary timber lands, and which 
must be entirely cleaned up before available for farming purposes, 
but which, however, afford considerable revenue by the sale of 
logs and cordwood, in many cases enough to pay for the land. 
There can also be found open lands which have been either burned 
over or cut-over. This class of land presents an opportunity for 
the farmer to get to work immediately on the farm by breaking 
and seeding for meadow. Then there is the third class, known as 
"swamp lands," being either natural meadows or lowlands grown 
up to tamarack, spruce and cedar. The selection between the three 
classes will depend on the use to which the landseeker chooses to 
put the land. 




U.vnamiting n Stnnip. 



cle:aring. 

Clearing with stocK — Use of clover and 
timotKy— Handling' log's and do-wn 
stuff— Pine stumps— Dynamit- 
ing'— Turpentine factories. 

The clearing of the farm depends a great deal on the object 
in view. The man without money, who must depend altogether 
on his own efforts, will find the work rather slow on account of in- 
terruptions in his time, and he will also soon find that live stock will 
do a large share of the work more easily and cheaply than he can 
do it. This one thing must be kept in mind : that farming in 
Northern Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, and Northern Michi- 
gan is best as a live-stock proposition, and the farmer must keep 
the live-stock end of it in mind when he figures on the clearing. 
The brush can be left in the pasture and will be gradually beaten 
down and largely disappear through the tramping of stock. As 
soon as the brush is beaten down sufficiently to allow sunlight 
to come in white clover will volunteer, and the second year any 
brush land, when pastured sufficiently, will bring very good pas- 
ture ffrass. 




The Results of a Well Placed Charge of Dynamite. 



10 Hard-wood Timber Lands. 

Angora goats are probably the best as brushers. The skep- 
tic who has laughed at goat stories will be convinced after seeing 
a flock of them at work that the stories have not been exaggerated 
as to their brush-destroying abilities. They will annihilate small 
brush and twigs, both on the ground and as high up as they can 
reach. They will bark the trees and ride down anything that can 
be reached and bent over. 

Sheep will also do very effective work in clearing, their work 
being confined mostly to the small brush and the grass. While 
not being capable of doing quite as effective work in the way of 
clearing brush, they will probably give more profit in themselves 




Pulling' a Refractory Dynamited Stump. 

while doing the work. Cattle and horses, tramping through the 
brush to obtain the wild peas and other succulent wild vines and 
grasses upon which they thrive, will also do good work in clearing, 
especially where confined sufficiently. Their work is largely pre- 
paratory, however, and the farmer, after pasturing his land for a 
year or two. can come in and clear it off with half the work that 
would have been necessary in the first place. At the same time 
his milk cows or sheep have been giving him a little income. The 
wild brush lands are surprisingly rich in pasture feed and although 



Clearing-. 



11 



any one unacquainted with conditions would wonder that they 
could pick up much food, nevertheless cattle and stock of all kinds, 
when having- sufficient range, will carry more hard flesh than they 
would on many tame pastures. Another chapter of this booklet 
devoted to wild vetches will partially explain this. It is well to re- 
member that the brush pastures are rather warm in summer, and 
after a wet spell there will be a considerable number of mosquitoes. 
It is well to have a little cleared space, where the wind can strike, 
in which the stock can rest on hot days. 

When the farmer wants to clear up brush land for breaking 




Stiiiiips PiU'd ior BiiruiiiK. 

and for meadow, he can, by observing a few points, save himself 
a great deal of bother and work. If he intends to clear for mead- 
ow, he should have previously gone through the brush and scat- 
tered a full seeding of clover and timothy. If he has done this, 
he ought to have a fair stand of tame grass the second year, espe- 
cially if the seed was sown on ashes, and when the brush is cleared 
off will have a first-class meadow. I know of no place in the 
■United States where tame grass will catch as readily as in the cut- 
over lands. This country has come to be known as "The Land of 
Big Red Clover," and it is certainly true that tame grasses of all 
kinds flourish like weeds. A gfood meadow can often be obtained 



12 



Hard-wood Timber Lands. 



without plowing the land. The grass seed can be sown in the 
brush at any time of the year, preferably in the spring on a wet 
day or on ashes after a burn. It is a very good system to run a 
fire in the spring of the year, which will kill all the brush about 
to leaf out by blistering the outside bark or cambium layer, thus 
shutting off the supply of moisture in the ground. After the 
burn, it is well to go in and seed your clover and timothy on the 




Timothy and Clover in a Homestead Clearing:. Virgin Forefst in 

Background. 

ashes, pasture it that year, and clear off for meadow the next sea- 
son. 

When it comes to cutting brush, there are proper times to do 
this, and proper times to leave it alone. The best time is from 
the middle of July to the last of August, when the sap is mostly 
in the leaves and stem and the plant is storing up winter food. 
If cut at this time, the brush roots are effectually shut off from 
the source of food, and will make a very sickly growth the next 
season. A little pasturing will keep them in subjection. When 
cut at any other time of year, unless a good fire has followed and 
effectually seared off the stubs, a second cutting will be necessary, 
and possibly a third, to get rid of the shoots. The brush can be 



Clearing. 



13 



cut over very close to the ground, which is called "close cutting." 
This method is usually the most favorable, in the long run, with 
small stuff, although the first operation costs a little more money. 
Large trees must necessarily be cut a little higher up and allowed 
to rot. One method which is used in handling poplar and like 
saplings is to cut them off about three feet above the ground. 
The next season they can be easily twisted over, there being no 
suckers and the roots being rotted. Small trees up to four and 




Itoiid :>lakiii^ Through the Virj-in Forost. 

five inches in diameter can be readily pulled out by a team. The 
roots on one side are cut, and with a long rope the tree is pulled 
over prostrate. The roots on the other side are then cut, and the 
tree dragged off. 

The handling of the windfalls and down logs is a matter of 
short work with an experienced man who knows how to handle 
a team of experienced woods horses. The implements required 
are a pair of spreaders or double-trees, a trained team of woods 
horses, and a scoot or frog, as it is called, upon which to roll one 



14 Hard-wood Timber Lands. 

end of the log and upon which to drag it. It is merely a skele- 
ton sled, to which the team is attached by a chain, which holds the 
log in place also. It saves all the bumping and twisting that 
would otherwise happen in dragging the log along the ground. 
The same "scoot" is used in the lumber woods for skidding logs. 
The logs are all dragged up in a pile, and decked up in a way 
similar to the loading of a logging sled. When thus piled up they 
dry thoroughly and burn readily. The logs that are fit for lum- 
ber can be separated and put on skids preparatory to hauling to 
the sawmill in the winter. Among the down logs will be found 
many logs that are fit for cordwood. 

The question of pine stumps has been a bugbear to the cut- 
over country, and has created an unfair prejudice in the minds of 
would-be settlers. In very many sections of the North there are 
no pine stumps, the timber being of hardwood. Even where there 
are pine stumps, the farmer can make a good living by leaving the 
stumps alone and converting his land into meadow and pasture, 
leaving the stumps to be pulled out at his discretion. When it 
comes to getting rid of the stumps, the farmer has an option of 
three methods, viz., burning, pulling and dynamiting. Where 
they are somewhat rotten and open, they can often be burned 
out by piling plenty of fuel around them. It necessitates steady 
firing. They can also be pulled with a stump puller when not too 
large. Last of all, they can be dynamited. The last I believe to 
be the most economical and best way, in the long run, where the 
stumps are of considerable size. Dynamite is becoming cheaper 
each year and is now well within the reach of the average farmer. 
It can be purchased at from $12 to $20 a hundred pounds, which 
will take care of about 200 big stumps, and possibly more. The 
lower grade of dynamite, by which we mean 40 per cent nitro- 
glycerine, in our experience has proven both more economical 
and more effective than the 60 per cent. The lower grade seems 
to act slower and with more cumulative force. The dynamite 
comes in one-half pound cartridges, which are fitted with cap and 
fuse. A hole is made directly under the center of the stump with 



Clearing, 



15 



a crowbar, the aim being to have the cartridge about two feet be- 
low the ground and directly under the center of the stump. The 
dirt is easily tamped around the opening, and the cartridge is then 
exploded. The effect is to split it and lay back the parts of the 
stump, which can be later pulled out and piled up with compara.- 
tive ease. It is to be remembered that the pine stumps as well as 
all other trees in the North are entirely surface rooted. The best 
time to use dynamite is in the wet season. The best efifect is often 
secured when the cartridge is right in water. Good results are ob- 
tained also in the spring of the year when the frost is out to a 
point just below the roots. 




Kond Making by the Use of the Grader. 

In regions where the Norway pine abounds, there is con- 
siderable interest at the present time in regard to turpentine fac- 
tories. At Hinckley, Minn., there is located one of the first of 
these factories to be installed in this country, although turpentine 
factories are common in Europe. The Norway pine stump is very 
rich in pitch and creosote, and when put through the baking proc- 
ess at the turpentine factory, gives off a fair product of turpen- 
tine, with tar and charcoal as residual products. The process is 



16. 



Hard-wood Timber Lands. 



sufficiently profitable that the factory can afford to remove stumps 
from a farm for the gift of them, or can pay about the price of 
cordwood for them delivered. Thus it would seem that turpentine 
factories will solve the problem of pine stumps in a region where 
the Norway pine has been numerous. White pine is said to yield 
too small a per cent of turpentine to make the process profitable. 




In mentioning the different points in clearing, we have taken 
the extreme cases in an endeavor to be absolutely fair to the home- 
seeker and to tell the whole truth. In justice to northern lands, 
however, it must be said that there are many tracts that require 
little or no trouble in clearing. Many of the burned-over dis- 
tricts are free from stumps, windfalls, and are all set in wild grass- 
es. Probably the largest proportion of these lands have light 
brush and only occasional stumps, and can be made into farms 
at small expense per acre. The processes of clearing we have de- 
scribed apply only to lands where the extreme cases of clearing" 
are to be done, and cover all phases of work to be done on all 
classes of land. It is somewhat slower work than on the prairie, 
but the settler can live more cheaply, improve more cheaply, and 
have a farm in the end that ought to make him as much money,. 
acre for acre, as most lands in the United States. 



♦BSB 
<t - 




HANDLING THE FARM. 



Use of stocK— First crops- WKen to breaK— 

Best rotation of crops— Use 

of crops. 

The handling of a farm in the cut-over country must necessar- 
ily be somewhat different from the procedure on the prairie farm. 
It is acknowledged, however, that the timber farm is the most 
productive of all farms, that its grasses are more luxurious and 
nutritious, and that its grains are more thrifty and of better weight 
and quality. There seems to be a stamina put into crops grown 
on timber soils that the prairie and muck lands fail to give. The 
handling of the cut-over farm determines to a great extent the 
future success and the profit, and the time it will take to put the 
wild land on a paying basis. The first inclination is to go at the 
land with the determination to clear ofif everything in the way 
of brush and other accumulations, and make a farm of it straight- 
way. Of course, enough should be cleared to grow winter feed, 
but the greater portion of the farm should be left in pasture till 
its wild nature is overcome. We have previously mentioned the 
ffreat advanta2:e in using^ stock of all kinds to beat down brush and 




Bees and Potatoes, Two Profitable Industries, the Second Year after 

Settling. 



Handling the Farm. 



19 



do all the preliminary work in brushing. The stumps can also 
be let alone when the land is in meadow and pasture. It must be 
remembered that the northern country is best suited to grass, hay, 
small grain and roots. In these particular points the cut-over 
lands have no superior in the United States. It must also be re- 
membered that these crops we have mentioned can be best used in 
connection with the growing of live stock and the dairy. 

The first thing needed on the farm is probably a small space 
of cleared land for potatoes, garden truck and small grain. This 
can be easily obtained on most any tract of land in the North with 




An Old Loggins lleadauarters Lsed as Nucleus for the Farm Buildiu^^s. 
Tamarack Swamp Turned into Meadow. 

very little difficulty. The land will work up into better shape for 
crops if it has previously had a crop of grass. The northern clay 
is peculiar in its nature, being very fine in texture and compact. 
After it has had a crop of grass or two it works up like an ash 
heap, but if taken in its virgin state it is apt to be a little cold 
and sour. It should be broken as early in the summer as possible 
after the spring crops are well out of the way, which will be in 
late June. The experience with farmers in the North seems to 
indicate that summer breaking is pre-eminently the best and that 
late fall breaking is about the poorest ; so that if the land cannot be 
broken in midsummer or before the first of September the break- 



20 



Hard-wood Timber Lands. 



ing should be deferred until the next spring. This is especially 
true of the heavy clay soils. It is best in summer breaking to 
plow very shallow, turn the sod over in good shape, as a flat sod 
seems to rot faster, and use a spring-tooth harrow and sow to a 
crop of rutabagas. The next time the land is plowed it should be 
stirred a little deeper and put into a crop of small grain, flax prob- 
ably being the best crop. This method of breaking and plowing 
has heen very successful in changing the land from forest to farm 
conditions. For land broken in the spring, potatoes are probably 
the best crop. The yield will not he especially great, but the land 
will be loosened up and prepared well for oats the following year. 




Alsike Clover and Timothy from Seed Thro>-* n in the Brush. 

Fodder corn also will do quite well, and we have seen some excep- 
tionally good crops of oats, although it is not usual. The sandy 
lands will, of course, work into condition much more rapidly than 
the heavy clays. The proper rotation will probably be found with 
the following arrangement : 

First Year: Potatoes or Corn. 

Second Year: Either Oats, Wheat, Flax, or Speltz. 



Handling- the Farm. 21 

Third Year : Clover and Timothy, seeded with grains above. 

Fourth Year: Hay and Pasture. 

In this rotation the potato ground will be well prepared for 
the oats, and usually need only be disked. The clover and timothy 
can be seeded down with the small grain, and makes excellent 
hay and pasture for at least two years. The meadow plowed up 
makes an elegant seed bed for the cultivated crop of corn or po- 
tatoes. 

The man who is handling the cut-over farm with stock will 
find several easy methods of saving time and labor in clearing 
the land. After he has a small patch cleaned up for a garden, he 
should fence the remainder of his land, cut the brush as he has 
time or opportunity, and pasture it as closely as possible. In 
the meantime he should have seeded down in the brush with 
clover and timothy, as was suggested in the preceding chapter. 
The wild peas and other wild grasses, where they are abundant, 
will furnish quite a little food, and the cattle, in tramping through 
the brush for them, will open a way for the light to come in and 
start the clover and timothy. The second year there should be 
any amount of tame pasture, and during this year the farmer 
should come in and clean the land up. so that he can use a mowing 
machine. This is a very simple and effective way of getting a 
very fine meadow, and a great deal of land can be cleaned up in 
a short time. After it has been in grass for a few years, the farm- 
er can plow as much as desired, and the land will be the better 
for the grass crops which it has grown. The clover will rot out 
lots of stubs and stumps and add the humus which the soil needs. 
Any of the northern land is surprisingly rich in plant food, and the 
crops of grass merely go to loosen and lighten it up and to put it 
in proper condition for the seed bed. Where the farmer has neg- 
lected to seed in the brush, he can clean the down stuff off and 
disk thoroughly until the top two or three inches of soil are thor- 
oughly loosened, and then seed in this a seeding of oats, along 
with which should be clover and timothy. The oats, together 
with what wild grass and wild peas volunteer, will give a fair 



22 



Hard- wood Timber Lands. 



crop of mixed hay the first year, and the second year will give a 
good crop of clover and timothy. 

Hay, for which the country seems to be admirably adapted, 
is a very important crop. The yield will be from two to four tons 
per acre of excellent hay. This hay can be fed in connection with 
the dairy, with sheep, and with stock of all kinds. 

"The Land Of Big Red Clover" is an absolutely safe agricul- 
tural proposition. The land will become richer every year that 
clover is grown, and there is na one greater feed for stock. It is 
the greatest one crop blessing that can be bestowed on any section 
of country. In the system of permanent agricultural prosperity, 
clover is more important than corn, wheat or any other one crop. 




A AVell Alude Priiiiilive I>og Cabin, Coiiifortsible au«1 F.conoiiiic':il. 



CROPS. 



Wild crops— Tame crops— Grasses— Grains — 

Vegetables— Root crops— Wild grasses— 

Small fruit. 

The typical soil of the cut-over country, by which we mean 
the clay-loam soil, is peculiarly adapted to a wide variety of field 
crops, as well as garden stuff and horticultural productions. We 
see the first evidence of this in the wild, primitive conditions 
as we first find them. Growing wild in the northern woods are 
found a wonderful variety of wild grasses and wild fruits of all 
descriptions. This would seem to indicate that the cultivated 
counterparts would thrive well, and such we find to be the case. 
As in all timber soils, grasses are the best crop and of the best 
variety. As the soil is loamy, we find it especially adapted to all 
crops of a nitrogenous nature. Leguminous crops are found 
growing wild in the woods, and all cultivated leguminous crops, 
such as clover, alfalfa, and peas, are wonderfully productive. The 
small fruits of the North can hardly be excelled, as would natural- 
ly be expected when we find elegant specimens growing wild. A 




Clover and Timothy Meadow.. . Hardwood Timber in BackgroHud. 



M 



Hard- wood Timber Lands. 



soil of this character is adapted to practically any plant that grows, 
and the limitations are bounded only by the length of the grow- 
ing season and other climatic conditions. 

Timothy. All over the northern woods, and especially along 
the tote roads where the lumbermen used to haul hay to the camps, 
will be found an abundance of timothy and tame grasses. This 
was the first intimation given as to the agricultural possibilities 
•of the country. The timothy has perpetuated itself there in a wild 
5tate year after year, and we find that it has made itself at home 
all through the woods wherever there has been a chance for the 
.seed to be carried. One of the first steps in getting land into sub- 




A Field of the "Big Red Clover," 

jection is to scatter timothy seed on the raw ground, either in the 
brush or after that has been removed. The result is usually a 
magnificent stand of grass, and I have seen meadows twenty years 
old that have never been plowed and which were obtained in this 
way. It is no uncommon thing to see timothy heads twelve inches 
long and the stem six feet high. Northern timothy has demon- 
strated its worth by the fact that all recognized hay markets pay 
a premium price for it, claiming that it has more "strength" as a 
feed and more quality than similar hay grown on the prairie and 
other back lands. Timothy will always be one of the first friends 



26 



Hard-wood Timber Lands. 



of the northern farmer, and he should utiHze it immediately as 
a pasture and meadow grass. 

The Clovers. As before mentioned, all the leguminous plants 
do wonderfully well. The clovers are best used in connection 
with timothy. A mixed seeding of timothy and red clover will 
give a good crop of timothy, with a small amount of clover the 
first year, for hay, and the second year there should be a mam- 
moth crop of clover. Timothy alone is rather exhausting on the 
fertility of the land, and clover stores the land with nitrogen, on 
which succeeding crops of timothy may draw. There is in all 
countries a reciprocal relation between these two plants, benefi- 
cial to both, which meets the wants of the farmer. The red clover 
is the most commonly used on account of the fact that it makes a 




Second Grovith Clover. 

heavy, rank growth and affords a good aftermath for pasture, and 
also because the seed is apparently cheaper. In my own prac- 
tice I always prefer the alsike clover, believing it to be the ideal 
clover for the North, as but half the seed is required per acre, and 
it is therefore really cheaper. Its growth is not quite as rank as 
the red or mammoth, but it is a perennial, coming up year after 



Crops. ^ 

year, whereas the red clover usually dies after the second year. 
Its stems are more digestible and the hay is a great deal cleaner 
and of a better quality. It is also more easily cured, and is espe- 
cially adapted for the wet lands and, like all clovers, is a subsoiler, 
its roots growing down for a long distance, loosening by dividing 
the compact loam soil. It is valuable in this respect in the North, 
because the heavier soil is more or less compact after the brush is 
cut off. For all-around use I believe that alsike clover will prove 
to be the ideal variety for the North. White clover is practically a 
weed, and it makes a much larger growth and seems almost like a 
different variety from the white clover of the central states, being 
larger in stalk and especially in bloom. In places in the woods 
where the sun has had a chance to warm the ground we find little 
patches of white clover, and it seems almost beyond comprehen- 
sion that the seed should be carried there, which, however, it must 
necessarily have been. Along the roadside, around the house, and 
practically everywhere we find white clover has volunteered in 
place of some noxious weed, as would be the case in other coun- 
tries. The northern white clover is a fairly good pasture grass, 
and coming up with red top, as it usually does, is quite valuable 
for pasture, considering that no expense has been incurred in se- 
curing it. These two grasses can almost be assured without seed- 
ing on any land that has been cleared. 

Red Top. Red top is also quite a valuable plant in the cut- 
over timber country, and seems to be of more use and of better 
quality than in other sections. It is best adapted to the wettish 
spots, where it usually will appear of its own accord. A mixture 
of alsike clover and red top makes a good seeding for semi-wet 
conditions, provided the water never stands high enough to cover 
the leaves and thus smother out the clover. When cut early 
enough, red top makes a fair quality of hay ; in fact, has more food 
content than is generally supposed ; but it must be cut early, else 
it becomes woody. 

Blue Grass. Blue grass thrives well in the North, and, as 
everywhere else, makes a valuable pasture grass, especially for 



Crops. 



•>o 



sheep and horses. It is found growing along the roadside and 
anywhere else that there has been a chance for seed. In this it 
is like the clovers. The English blue grass or meadow fescue 
will also probably prove a valuable grass in the North. It is dif- 
ferent from the ordinary blue grass in that it is a perennial, 
and is especially adapted for the late fall and early spring. 

Oats. Oats is probably the best field crop in the North. It 
usually finds a ready sale in the city and in the lumber camps, 
and, when not bringing a sufficient price on the market, can be 
fed out on the farm to good advantage to the horses, milk cows, 




This P'arm Changed from Brush to CultivjiteJ Fields in Three Years. 

sheep and swine. The climate is especially adapted to small 
grains, and more especially to oats. In the first place, a splendid 
seed bed can be prepared in the spring, as the seeding operation 
can be delayed a little longer than further south. The nights 
are cool, with heavy dews. The rainfall comes about the seeding 
period, and again at the ripening period, causing a sturdy stalk, 
which matures out a heavy, meaty kernel. I have had in my own 
experience oats weighing over forty pounds to the bushel, with 
a kernel almost like barley and possessing wonderful feeding qual- 



30 



Hard-wood Timber Lands. 



ities. The yield will run from forty to ninety bushels per acre, 
averaging around fifty bushels year in and year out. Northern 
oats very rarely run under the standard weight per bushel, but 
usually far above. Oats followed by a seeding of clover or tim- 
othy fits nicely into the proper rotation, which I have discussed in 
another chapter. 

Barley. Barley is also a very good crop, not as yet very ex- 
tensively grown because the northern farmer has failed to grow 
the proper stock to which to feed it and has depended on selling 
it. He has also not learned as yet how to care for it to secure the 
highest grade. We might possibly except the Wisconsin farmer, 




Barley on an Improved Farm. Originally Cut-over Land. 

who has a great reputation as a grower of high-class barley. The 
yield is very good as a rule, and the grain has heavy kernels. 
When mixed and ground with oats, barley makes an excellent 
feed for the dairy cow, and is a suitable substitute for corn in 
fattening swine. Barley and clover fed hogs have a great repu- 
tation on account of the fine, sweet bacon and hams which these 
feeds produce. 

Spelts. Speltz is well adapted to northern conditions and 
yields well as a usual thing. The consensus of opinion among 



Crops. 31 

good farmers and agricultural authorities, however, would seem 
to indicate that speltz is not a profitable grain to grow where good 
oats and barley can be grown. Its hard shell around the kernel 
is its objectionable feature. 

Flax. Flax is quite a successful crop, and finds its best use 
as a first crop on new breaking, which is usually a little hard to 
get into subjection. It can also be planted late in the spring, 
after other grains have been seeded. It is usually grown in the 
North as a makeshift in this way. It will be unfortunate if the 
time ever comes when these grains will be grown as commercial 
crops. The northern farmer should confine his attention to the 
live-stock business and grow only such grains as he can profitably 
feed, thus conserving the fertility of his farm. 

Corn. Many farmers condemn a country that will not grow 
Indian corn. Those who are conversant with the question of 
permanent agricultural fertility would, however, rather give up 
corn than the clovers. It must not be understood that corn cannot 
be grown in the North. For the growing of fodder corn the 
country cannot be excelled. The past year of 1905 there could 
be seen well-matured corn all along the northern boundaries of 
the three states under discussion. It was mature at practically 
the same time as corn in Northern Iowa and Illinois, thus indicat- 
ing that in favorable seasons corn can be quite successfully grown 
on a limited scale, all over the cut-over lands. In sandy soil it 
will mature even under unfavorable conditions. Corn will find 
its best use in the North, however, as a silage and fodder crop, 
and in this respect will be quite as valuable as anywhere else. 
In the North the corn leaves and stalk are very fine in quality, 
and the whole plant will be eaten up completely by live stock. 
The northern fodder is therefore of more value as a stock food 
ton for ton, than the fodder of the South. 

Peas. In another chapter I have devoted considerable atten- 
tion to the wild peas and beans found in the northern woods. 
The tame peas do almost as well. The garden peas grow to great 
perfection. As yet the Canada field pea has not been extensively 



32 Hard-wood Timber Lands. 

grown, but in most vicinities there is no reason why it should not 
be a feed of great value for live stock of all kinds, as has been 
demonstrated by Ontario farmers. There may be a slight differ- 
■ence in the growth in some soils over others, preference probably 
being for the heavy clay soils. 

Vegetables. It would seem that in no place in the world can 
l)etter garden truck be grown than in the cut-o\ er country. Pro- 
duced, herewith, is an illustration of 153 different varieties of 
vegetables exhibited at one county fair in the region under dis- 
cussion. There is practically no limit to the success of the truck 
gardener. 

Root Crops. The porous, loamy soils and the sandy soils are 
especially adapted to root crops of all kinds, and the yields are 
nothing short of phenomenal. Northern Minnesota, Northern 
Wisconsin, and Northern Michigan have long been known as the 
great potato districts, and these districts furnish a large share of 
the seed potatoes for the United States, as well as supplying a good 
share of the regular market supply. Northern potatoes have an ex- 
ceptional quality and yield, and, until the country settles itself to 
permanent agriculture, afford the farmer a good revenue. As a first 
crop, potato growing will always be extensively carried on in the 
North. But the time will come when the potato crop will not be en- 
tirely depended upon for revenue, as it is in some cases now. How- 
ever, a small acreage of potatoes for a cash crop will probably al- 
ways be grown on most farms. When the market is not especially 
good for profitable sale, the many starch factories located over 
the whole district will absorb the cheap product as well as afford 
a market for the culls in ordinary years. All other classes of roots 
aside from potatoes do well. Mangels, sugar beets, rutabagas, 
carrots, and other like roots yield as well as any place in the 
country. The fertility of the soil and the porous condition of the 
lighter soils seem to just fit the requirements for roots. There 
is no limitation to the quantity and variety of roots which the 
stockman may grow if he wish, and unless the northern farmer 
wants to put up a silo, there is nothing which will better supple- 




Vegetable Es^hibit at a Nortliem Minnesota County Fair. 153 Varieties. 



34 Hard-wood Timber Lands. 

ment his hay and grain rations than roots. The growing of sugar 
beets for factories is also getting to be more of a business each 
year in certain locaHties. 

IVild Grasses. Growing wild in the brush and woods in 
practically all sections of the cut-over country are found many 
varieties of grasses and plants, most of which are very good for 
pasture and hay. The native grasses usually found are red top 
and blue stem grass, different from the blue stem of the prairies 
further South, but a fairly good grass, usually found in the natu- 
ral meadows. They make very good pasture grasses, and also 
good hay when cut sufficiently early and properly cared for. This 
sort of hay is best suited for horses or as roughness for cattle and 
sheep, and grades in quality quite high for wild hay. There are 
also found several specimens of the brome grasses and other wild 
grains which make desirable feeds. But the most desirable natives 
from the standpoint of the stockman are the wild vetches belong- 
ing to the family Leguminosae, the same family which has fur- 
nished the noted clovers, alfalfa, cowpeas, soy beans and a host 
of others, all noted as great stock food and soil enrichers. The 
wild legumes are locally known as vetches or "wild peas" and 
"wild beans." Some of the varieties stronglv resemble the garden 
bean, and others resemble alfalfa, and still others resemble the 
members of the pea family. They are as good feed, pound for 
pound, as alfalfa or the clovers which belong to the same family 
as the wild peas. The peas are found growing among the stumps 
and brush, thriving best where the land has been burned over, 
the burning seeming to give them a better access to light and 
more growing space. Where at all numerous, they literally mat 
the ground and climb as high on the brush as it will allow. When 
found in the brush in this way they make a most valuable pasture 
for all kinds of stock, and especially for young stock and milk.cows. 
Local butchers often remark that cattle fattened on wild peas 
have a finish almost equal to grain fed stock. Dairy cows give 
an excellent flow of milk when feeding on peas, and when the 
pea pasturage is exhausted the effects are soon noted in the de- 



36 Hard-wood Timber Lands. 



crease of milk. Cattle and horses seem to prefer such pasture 
to all others, and they will often leave good tame pasture and 
roam through the woods to pick up the succulent pea vines. 

There are at least three and perhaps more varieties of wild 
peas. The largest growing and most valuable variety seems to 
grow mostly on high land. It has pinkish colored flowers grow- 
ing in clusters. Its leaves are much like those of the garden pea, 
but more numerous and are larger. The stem is much like the 
clover stem. The smaller varieties are distinguished by single 
riowers of either blue or white color. These varieties are smaller 
in every way and seem to thrive best on lower land. They are 
the true vetch. During the last year or two, farmers have dis- 
covered that when land, which is seeded to any extent with the 
wild pea, is cleaned up and burned over, a fine crop of wild peas 
will volunteer the following season. This crop will produce a 
heavy yield of hay. Such hay will equal the very best tame hay, 
and is probably just as valuable as alfalfa. In feeding several tons 
of such hay the past winter the writer found it especially valuable 
for horses and milk cows. Chickens are also very fond of it. It 
should also be very valuable for sheep. The vines are cut for 
hay when the peas are well podded, but not too ripe. They should 
not be allowed to lie upon the ground too long, but instead 
raked up while quite green and allowed to cure in the cock. In 
this way all the fine leaves are saved, and it is in these leaves 
that the valuable part of the feed is found. 

The pea grows from a small hard seed about the size of a 
sweet pea seed, and also from a thick underground stem, from 
which new vines come up each year. A wild pea stand should 
endure for several years, unless crowded too much by other 
grasses. On the roots of the peas will be found nodules similar 
but very much larger than those growing on the clovers. 

The wild beans are similar in appearance to the garden bean, 
although smaller. They are found principally in the maple groves 
or shaded spots. They grow in a thick mat all over the ground. 



Crops. 37 

Stock love to pasture upon them, and the results seem to be quite 
satisfactory. 

Through the courtesy of Prof. Holden, the writer has ob- 
tained a partial analysis of two varieties of wild peas. In the 
table below is given the percentage of protein or flesh-forming 
ingredients. There has also been noted the protein analysis of 
other legumes, together with the protein content of bran and 
middlings. 

Water Protein Ash Carbohydrates. 

Red Clover 20.8 12.4 

Alfalfa 8.4 14.3 

Cowpeas 10.7 16.6 

Soy Peas 11. 3 IS4 

Wild Peas (Large) 8.8 16.4 

Wild Peas (Small) 8.7 15.6 

Middlings 12.1 156 



The experience of farmers in feeding wild pea hay has been 
quite satisfactory, as the above table would lead us to expect. 

With more information in regard to these seemingly valuable 
plants, it may be found that in the wild peas and beans the northern, 
farmer, as well as farmers everywhere, will have added to agri- 
culture another valuable legume. Experiment alone can tell how 
they will stand civilization. At any rate, it is a comfort to the 
northern farmer to know that growing wild he has a plant which 
is as valuable to him as alfalfa and the clovers which are coveted 
in so many countries where they cannot be grown. 

Small Fruits. As before mentioned, small fruit is at its best 
in the northern soil's. If the farmer does not desire to take the- 
trouble to pick the wild raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, dew- 
berries, Juneberries and cranberries, he can grow the finest kind 
of tame berries of the same varieties. Northern Minnesota straw- 



38 



Hard-wood Timber Lands. 



berries were pronounced the peer of the country at the St. Louis 
Exposition. There are more apples being grown in the North 
every year, and there seems to be no reason why any farmer 
should be without his orchard. Fruit trees should not be planted, 




One Tree ol :iii Apiile Orohard near Duluth. 



however, until the land is pretty well under subjection, and the 
young trees will probably have to be a little more protected than 
elsewhere. 



NORTHERN LANDS FOR STOCK. 

Dairy cattle— Beef cattle— Sheep— Bacon- 
Hog's— Horses. 

Northern lands are pre-eminently fitted for live stock of near- 
ly all descriptions. This is fortunate, inasmuch as it would be 
a long time before the country would be cleaned up if the object 
in view was to make grain farms. As it is, the northern farmer 
can get an income right away from his stock, and at the same 
time the stock is working for him better than servants in the way 
of beating down brush and clearing up the land. There has long 
been an impression among farmers in more southern sections that 
the climate of Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan was 
too severe for any but the hardiest class of live stock. We have 
■only to look over in the same latitude into Ontario, that great 
province of stockmen, to see what can be accomplished in the 
North. All this section of country is as well adapted to the live- 
stock business as Ontario. The climate in winter is quite cold, 
"but it is a dry, even cold without extremes of temperature, and 
the animal suffers no more than in the South if properly cared for. 
Nature provides a heavy coat of hair and acclimatization soon 
takes place. 

Dairy Cattle. The many clear streams of pure water, the 
-nutritious grasses, and the high quality of hay, especially clover 
liay, the excellent assortment and quality of small grain, and the 
prodigious root crops, make up an assortment well suited to the 
needs of the dairyman. In summer the dairy cow will need little 
iDUt the native pastures, and she can graze just as well among 
stumps as on the prairie. The wild vetches especially stimulate 
the milk flow. Land that is well set in tame grass and cleared 
will often support a cow to the acre during the summer season, 
which cannot be said of many farming countries. In winter a 



Northern. Land for Stock. 



41 



good ration can be made up of clover, of mixed clover and tim- 
othy, hay, some roots, either mangels or carrots or rutabagas, and 
a small amount of bran. Wild pea hay and corn fodder, which 
can be grown to great perfection, with a little bran and oats, also 
makes an ideal ration. All things considered, the dairy business 
is the one great business for the North, and there is no reason 
why the northern parts of the states we have mentioned should 
not become the great dairy region of the United States. The en- 
vironment, the feeds and the markets all conspire to this end. 

Beef Cattle. While the North is best adapted to the dairy 
business, in time to come there will probably be more or less at- 
tention paid to the growing of beef cattle. They can be grown to 




Catfle and Sheep Soon Find a Place on the Improved Farm. 

maturity and sent to market off grass in very good condition. 
Corn is not, of course, an absolutely dependable crop, and any 
other feeds would be too expensive to fatten cattle; hence beef 
production will probably be limited to the growing of steers for 
feeders, or to summer pasturing. The fattening of beef cattle 
can be better conducted in the corn belt. 

Sheep. The fact that the requirements of feed for sheep 
are practically the same as the requirements for the dairy cow 



42 Hard- wood Timber Lands. 

would seem to indicate that the country is clearly adapted for 
sheep, and the facts confirm this. The cold, dry climate is excel- 
lent both for the stimulation of a dense, fine fleece and for the 
hardiness and vigor. Sheep can stand extreme cold far better 
than damp weather, and the northern climate is finely adapted 
to their needs. Disease is very rare. A flock of sheep will also 
do valiant work in destroying underbrush and fine stuff that other 
live stock would not relish. Trouble from wolves does not seem 
to be any greater than in well-settled countries. It is rather sur- 
prising that there are not more sheep ranches in the North. 
Those few that have come under our notice have been uniformly 
successful. The experienced sheepman will agree with the state- 
ment that an excellent climate, plenty of pasture, clover, hay, 
small grain and roots make up an ideal combination for sheep 
production both in regard to wool and mutton. 

Swine. It is a well-known fact that pork production can be 
most economically maintained in connection with the dairy. There 
are no cheaper feeds than skimmed milk and clover for making 
bone and muscle. The question will come up in the minds of 
many as to what will be used in fattening hogs. The bacon, 
and not the lard, hog is the hog for the northern conditions. The 
bacon hog fit for market will weigh from i6o to 200 lbs. at seven 
months, and will be raised on skim milk, clover, roots and barley. 
All these feeds can be very cheaply produced in the North. In 
connection with the dairy the bacon hog can be very economically 
produced and furnish as much profit as the hog of the corn belt. 
The world-famed English breakfast bacon is made from this 
class of hogs. Although it may not be generally known, a very 
large per cent of the premium bacon and hams sent out by the 
large packing establishments in the United States are culled from 
northern light-weight hogs, and are raised in this section of 
country. Very little attention as yet has been paid to the bacon 
hog, but in time the business of producing the highest class ham 
and bacon of the world will be centered in the cut-over country, 
which is the ideal environment. Tamworth, Yorkshire and some 



Northern Land for Stock. 



43: 



of the Berkshire types are ideal bacon hogs, but practically any- 
breed taken to the North and fed highly nitrogenous food will 
assume the same type in time. 

Horses. Good grass and hay and plenty of clean, heavT 
oats make up a good and economical ration for raising horses. 
Horses suffer from cold less than any other class of stock, and 
they thrive splendidly in the North. Northern-grown horses are 
exceptional for their stamina quality and clean bone, partially- 
due to their food and partially due to climate. They can be pro- 
duced about as cheaply in the North as probably any place in the 
United States, all things considered. The logging camps, iron 




A Pair of Northern Minnesota Yearlings, Grown by the Author. 

mines, and western harvest fields will furnish a splendid market 
for all horses that can be produced in the North for some years 
to come. The illustration produced herewith shows a pair of 
yearling colts raised by the author on a Northern Minnesota farm. 



SUMMARY. 



People v\^ho buy land— Northern marKets— 
Future of northern lands. 

In speaking of the various phases of the land situation as it 
exists in the cut-over country, and in speaking of the ways in 
which this land can be handled, the writer has endeavored to be 
absolutely fair and unprejudiced. The advantages have in no 
manner been intentionally overdrawn or overrated, and the dis- 
advantages have been discussed as well as means to overcome 
them. 

The country described is an ideal place for several classes of 
people who under present conditions find it difficult to obtain a 
farm in other localities. First, the renter, who, because of the 
fact that rental prices in old-established countries have risen to the 
point where he cannot make a living desires to find a new opening. 
Second, there is also the man who, because of high prices, has 
sold his farm and desires a new location. Third, there is also 
the immigrant, who wants a home in America. Fourth, is that 
last class of people made up of the overworked and the unemploy- 
ed in the city. There are thousands of people in each of these 
classes in the United States looking for land today. And the 
cheap lands of the cut-over country offers to each one an unex- 
celled opportunity. These lands are the poor man's opportunity, 
and nowhere else in the United States can he go with as dead 
certainty of success in the long nui, provided he is industrious. 
He can live cheaply, improve his farm cheaply, and have perman- 
ent work the year round. Milk cows will make him a living from 
the start, if he will but study and milk. When his farm is entire- 
ly cleared, it is as valuable and will make him as much money per 
acre as farms in almost any country. Although presenting great 
opportunities to the poor man, there are still greater opportunities 
presented to the man of means. 



Summary. 



45 



These lands are all sold on easy terms. A small payment 
need only be made at the start. For the remaining payments there 
is allowed almost unlimited time, all the way from five to forty 
years, with low rate of interest. This arrangement allows practic- 
ally anyone to buy a home. 




One of Many Progressive Nortliern To^vns. The Cream Business in 

This Town Is but Two Years Old. Scene Shows the Daily Sliipnient to 

tlie Central Market. 

Market facilities are, unsurpassed over practically the entire 
cut-over country. Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern 
Wisconsin lands lie practically midway between the two great 
markets of Duluth and Superior on the north and St. Paul and 
Minneapolis on the south. Then, there are all the good sized 
Wisconsin and Michigan cities to supply the eastern sections of 
the cut-over country with ready markets for practically everything 
the farmer will raise. 

In this booklet are described only a few of the many crops 
grown. Especial stress has been placed only upon those crops for 



46 



Hard-wood Timber Lands. 



which the country seems best fitted. The entire cut-over country 
some day will be known principally as a dairy section, — probably 
the foremost dairy section of the United States. Along with the 
dairy will come bacon hogs and sheep. The country is especially 
fitted for this phase of agricultural industry. And necessity will 
compel the farmer to bend his efforts in this direction. 

There are no two factors which point so assuredly to perman- 
ent agricultural prosperity as the clover plant and the dairy cow. 
It means fertile land forever, and assured success for anyone who 
sticks to the combination. 




A Pleasure Trip on Lake Pokegaina, One of the Many Northern Lakes. 



APR 27 MiOQ 



( 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




